‘I think it’s absurd’: Trade experts ridicule Tony Abbott for saying Britain should leave the European Union without a Brexit deal because the country ‘saw off Hitler, the Kaiser and the Spanish Armada’
- Former prime minister ridiculed for saying no Brexit deal ‘would be no problem’
- Mr Abbott said a no deal-Brexit could mean ‘a few months of inconvenience’
- But trade experts have described the logic behind his stance ‘as absurd’
- Britain scheduled to leave EU on March 29 but a deal is yet to be agreed upon
Australia’s former prime minister Tony Abbott has been ridiculed by trade experts after saying Britain would experience no problems if the country left the European Union without a deal.
Britain is scheduled to leave on March 29, but Prime Minister Theresa May faces pulling the country out of the EU without an agreement after her proposed deal was shot down by MPs in January.
Mr Abbott, writing in a column for The Spectator, said the country would struggle with ‘at most a few months of inconvenience’ and any difficulties would quickly pass if no deal was reached.
Tony Abbott (pictured) has been ridiculed by trade experts after saying Britain would experience no problems if the country left the European Union without a deal
In his column’s opening paragraph, Mr Abbott mocked those who feared the prospect of a no-deal Brexit.
‘Apparently the country that saw off Hitler, the Kaiser, Napoleon and the Spanish Armada is now paralysed with fear at the very thought of leaving the EU,’ he said.
But former World Trade Organisation negotiator for Australia, Dmitry Grozoubinski, accused the former prime minister of attempting to frame a policy debate as a ‘challenge to Britain’s manhood’.
Mr Grozoubinski also criticised Abbott for assuring the British public there would be ‘no consequences to tearing up the world’s most advanced trade arrangement with its nearest neighbors’.
The criticism of Mr Abbott’s stance on the issue was also echoed in the same newspaper by Henry Newman, the director of think tank Open Europe.
Mr Newman said it was ‘absurd’ to suggest no deal wouldn’t be a problem.
Britain is scheduled to leave on March 29, but prime minister Theresa May (pictured) faces pulling the country out of the EU without an agreement after her proposed deal was shot down by MPs in January
The writer for Conservative Home, a centre-right political blog, said the decision would destabilise Ms May’s government.
He added that such withdrawal terms could result in Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party, stepping into the role of prime minister.
Abbott also referenced Australia’s no-deal relationship with the EU, saying the union was the country’s second-biggest trade partner.
Mr Abbott said Brexit without a deal would mean ‘at most a few months of inconvenience’, but he was roundly criticised by a former WTO negotiator (pictured)
Mr Grozoubinski also criticised Abbott for assuring the British public there would be ‘no consequences to tearing up the world’s most advanced trade arrangement ‘
‘As a former prime minister of a country that has a perfectly satisfactory “no deal” relationship with the EU, let me assure you: no deal would be no problem,’ he said.
Mr Abbott also criticised the ‘neurotic anxiety of the official political class about leaving the European project, which they see somehow as a civilising force’.
The member for Warringah’s column was also published by British pub chain Wetherspoons in their in-house magazine.
In recent weeks, Mr Abbott has been busy campaigning in his electorate in an attempt to fend off independent challenger Zali Steggall ahead of the next election.
The member for Warringah’s column was also published by British pub chain Wetherspoons in their in-house magazine (pictured)